Keyboards

Peter Hayward was the chairman and founder of Australis Music Group. He founded Australis Music in 1973 and over the next 33 years he made an enormous contribution to the music industry and formed so many close relationships with people from all parts of the world. His understanding of the growth and development of the Australian music industry was second to none. Peter was the past President of the AMA and an Industry Award recipient. During the interview, Mr.

Joyce Hershberger and her late husband, Floyd, established the Hershberger Music Store in McCook, Nebraska, in 1956. Together, they watched the company grow into an important part of the community, serving several generations and bringing music into the lives of many. Joyce was a proud supporter of music makers in her community and especially proud that their son, Brad, shared the same passion as he took over the day-to-day operations of the family business. Their daughter, Bonnie, also worked in the store during the 1970s and 1980s, and again on a part-time basis in the mid-1990s

Floyd Hershberger along with his wife Joyce had the dream of opening their own small music store and running it as a family business. The store was established in 1956 in Nebraska and is now being run by their son Brad. Along the way they were witnesses to the good old days of the Beatles and the rise of the band instrument movement in the public school systems. They also withstood some difficult times during ups and downs in the economy. Through it all Floyd recalled “We stayed in it because we enjoyed our customers and what little we could do to bring music into their lives.”

Michael Heuser recounted his early meetings with Mr. Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Roland Corporation during his NAMM interview. The two men worked on product ideas as well as the goal of creating a branch of Roland in Switzerland. Michael headed the efforts as president of Roland Switzerland to great success. Michael was also very active in supporting and guiding our industry, contributing to several programs and initiatives including the  Global Economic Summit. During his interview he also discussed his great pride in not only working with Mr. K but in being his friend.   

Andy Hildebrand is the creator of Auto-Tune, which has had a big impact on music makers since it was first released in 1997. After a successful career as a scientist, Dr. Hildebrand had an opportunity to form his own company and began working on computer plug-ins related to music, his first love. Along the way he formed Jupiter Systems where he developed Multiband Dynamics Tool (MDT), which was one of the first Pro Tool plug-ins. The company name changed to Antares Audio Technologies in 1990 and several years later released the innovative Auto-Tune. Since that time Andy has conti

George Hines began his music retail store, George’s Music, outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1977. Since that time, he has been devoted to the industry that he entered out of a passion for music and music makers. As his store grew, so did George’s commitment to his customers. He founded a local blues festival that has grown each year. George is also one of the founders of the Alliance of Independent Music Merchants (AIMM), a decade-old group of retailers dedicated to education and communication within the music retail industry.

Tim Hinkley has been an active studio musician in both Los Angeles and Nashville for most of his career.  As first-call keyboardist, Tim has recorded with George Harrison, Pete Townshend, The Who and the Rolling Stones.  Tim also recorded with the Memphis Horns, a group founded by Wayne Jackson, who passed away the week of Tim’s NAMM Oral History interview.

Karl Hirano was an electronic engineer for Yamaha in Japan during the great MIDI boom of the early 1980s. In fact, Karl was a member of the team that gathered at the 1983 NAMM Show to discuss the MIDI spec and agree on the protocol and how MIDI would be engineered into the vast number of new electronic keyboards and synthesizers that were in high demand at the time. Karl later played an important role in several MIDI organizations, presentations and focus groups, marking an important part of the music product industry’s history.  

Akio Hiyoshi was on the engineering team at Yamaha in 1959 that designed the Electone Organ, which brought the small piano manufacturer into the electronic musical instrument market, where they would become dominant for decades.  The team also worked on the Clavinova, the CS 80 (Yamaha's last analog product) and developed the digital division for Yamaha. Akio recalls the special day that Stevie Wonder came in the factory to help review the early prototypes of the DX7.

Charles Hodges and his brothers were regular session players in Memphis.  Charles was among the early keyboardist for Willie Mitchell's band, which was the cornerstone for the Hi Records rhythm section.  Charles can be heard on an amazing 26 gold records in a row, beginning with Al Green in the late 1960s.  Charles was also featured in the documentary film, Take Me To The River, directed by Martin Shore.

Yeegn Lougn Hoe, known as YL, grew up in a music filled home. His grandfather, Hoe Toh Hui, was born in China and moved to Malaysia in the 1940s and setup a piano store in a small mining town known as Ipoh. His son, Willy Hoe, used to help his father at their family's piano store. As Willy grew up, he began to foresee the potential and future growth of neighboring Singapore, and decided to move there in his early 20s. He started working as a piano technician who was trained by Yamaha in Hamamatsu, Japan. Shortly after, Willy left Yamaha and established his very own music store cal

Terry Hope and Simon Gilson represent more than the new era of powerhouse music retailers in the world, they represent a refreshingly new approach to old and standard methods of selling. As founders of the Professional Music Technology (PMT) chain of stores, Simon and Terry speak with pride about their training classes for employees and their dedication to service. In all of their business successes, it is clear that their friendship is a key part of their own satisfaction and pride.  

John Hopkins became best friends with Chuck Surack, the founder of Sweetwater Sound, thanks to one phone call. Running his own heating and air condition company by day and helping his classical trained pianist wife by night, John found himself answering an ad in a magazine to purchase a keyboard upgrade. The year was 1988 and when John called Sweetwater for the purchase, the founder and owner, Chuck Surack, answered. They became fast friends and in fact Chuck hired John in 1992 and the two worked together until Chuck stepped up to chairman.

Jack Hotop’s passion for jazz, classical music, and emerging music technology guided a remarkable career as both a performer and innovator within the synthesizer industry. Growing up in a musical family, Jack was inspired by his father, who appeared on several Broadway cast recordings, while many members of his mother’s family were pianists. He studied arranging and composition at Berklee College of Music and further explored electronic music through studies at the Boston School of Electronic Music. Jack became one of the pioneering engineers and sound designers at Korg USA during

Gareth Hunt is the Managing Director of Soundcontrol, a musical instrument retailer located in England. As a young boy, he played in a traveling band on guitar. In fact, his father was his roadie and driver (after all, it was before Gareth could drive himself). As a player, Gareth could call on his friend who had a small retail store to buy the bands equipment. The owner hired Gareth in 1980. During this time, the store expanded to include a larger number of product lines and soon opened a second store in Sheffield, England.

Kazuo Ishibashi spent over 25 years in the Special Equipment Division of JVC (Japan Victor Corporation) and headed their musical instrument engineering section.  JVC marketed electronic organs and portable keyboards in Japan under the "Victron" label and exported them under the "JVC" brand. In the late 1970s, the Lowrey Organ Company and JVC entered into an agreement in which JVC manufactured a series of deluxe portable keyboards for Lowrey under the "Micro Genie" name.  The popular product was an important innovation that came at the end of the organ boom. This was at the beginni

Jeff Jacobs grew up in Chicago and remembers going to Gand Music to buy his first very own instrument, although his parents had an upright piano in their home. Jeff’s purchase was the ever-popular Fender Rhodes of the late 1960s. His playing career found him in the studio with Billy Joel with whom he toured for several years. While with Billy they recorded such hits as “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “River of Dreams” before Jeff joined Foreigner in 1991. Nine years later he established his own studio with a focus on jingles (ads for Gatorade and Go US Army, among others) using a P

Chris Jasper was the funk and soul keyboardist, singer and composer who played a key role in the Isley Brothers sound.  He later helped form Isley-Jasper-Isley, which, like the Isley Brothers era, resulted in several classic hit recordings. Chris also enjoyed a long solo career resulting in nearly a dozen albums.  Chris was an early pioneer of recording with synthesizers such as the Moog and the ARP 2600.  He studied law to better understand his own rights as a songwriter, and to help better establish clear and fair rules for copyrights within the United States.

Dr. John became the unofficial ambassador of New Orleans music by showcasing the mystic and voodoo rich traditions of southern Louisiana, which has become the backdrop to many Mardi Gras celebrations over the years. As a soloist and bandleader, he recorded million selling albums that have produced hit songs. As a sideman he can be heard on thousands of recordings including those with BB King for which he toured with for over 18 years.  Dr. John was also awarded for his passion for music education and music advocacy, especially for programs involving providing young children with t

Marvin Jones is the founding editor of Polyphony, an early and important magazine covering the growth and development of the synthesizer industry and its many innovators and leaders. Marvin talked of his wonderful background in music, going back to his father who was a designer and creator of musical instruments who showed his son that creating a sound was more than just playing an instrument, it was crafting an instrument that could make different sounds.

Phil Jost had a very interesting career in music as a musician before joining the sales team at St. Louis Music in 1974 and thus entering the music products industry. In his early days, being classically trained on the piano, Phil played keyboards and early synthesizers for dances, concerts and recordings for many years. Even after joining St. Louis Music, Phil continued to play. Phil has appeared on American Bandstand with Dick Clark, Solid Gold with Dionne Warwick, and the Tonight Show with Johnnie Carson. He has worked with famed Producer/Engineer Ken Scott on albums by Jeff Be

Gez Kahan, on a whim, offered to be the musical director for his college’s production of Tommy. The experience lit a fire under him and soon he was exploring all of the latest gear, especially electronic keyboards and synthesizers. In 1983 he was hired as a freelancer to demonstrate the first Roland MIDI instrument, the JX3P, at the British Music Fair. Once again the experience was exciting and rewarding and led to Roland hiring Gez for demos for four more years before finally asking him to come on board full-time. He wrote the advertising, the company’s newsletter and articles ab

Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Roland Corporation, created more than a successful business with a host of important innovations in electronic musical instruments; he has also paid tribute throughout his career to those who first inspired him. Mr. Kakehashi was born in Japan and formed Ace Electronics in 1964 with the goal of improving the electronic organ, following up on the work of his heroes, Mr. Hammond and Mr. Leslie. With the expansion of electronics in the late 1960s, he formed the Roland Corporation, which soon became one of the leaders in the industry. Perhaps the only

Kazuo Kashio was president of the Casio Musical Instrument Company during the heyday of electronic keyboard sales. The company produced some innovative products during that time and continues today to focus on product design and innovations. Mr. Kashio provided the rich history behind how the company was formed and his vision to lead the company into the technology driven electric keyboard market in the 1970s and 80s. With the focus on digital technology, Mr. Kashio then created a series of products covering several musical and non-musical products, keeping Casio among the creativ

Hirokazu Kato took part in the innovative engineering team at Yamaha in Japan who utilized FM Synthesis to create an electronic musical instrument, first the TRX prototype and then the revolutionary DX7.  Kato-san began his career with Yamaha in 1965 when he helped design the company's first clarinet while working in the wind instrument division.  After becoming Systems Engineer and studying at Columbia University, he returned to Japan where he worked on sound processing chips and the LSI technology required when John Chowning's discoveries of FM Synthesis became the framework for

Seiki Kato was the president of KORG, the Japan based electronics company that has created innovative musical products since his father first established the company in the 1970s. Seiki provided meaningful insight into the international growth of KORG as well as his philosophy moving forward as it relates to global sales and distribution. At the time of his interview, at the 2018 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Seiki expressed gratitude for the fact that his late father was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program, where it will forever be an opportunity for all those who knew him to r

Tsutomu Katoh had many ideas for using electronics to improve the way people make music in their homes. As the founder of KORG, Katoh-san (also spelled Kato) was able to see his ideas turn into successful musical products. The company introduced an impressive line of products, many of which revolutionized the industry. One such innovative product was the M1, the first synthesizer work station. Mr. Katoh took time during his interview for NAMM to speak of the importance of teamwork and the incredible team, from engineers to the sales force, that he assembled at KORG over the years.

Alan Kay has always had a love for music and in fact often found himself thinking in terms of a musician when he was designing computers and computer code.  Alan is a computer science pioneer who spent a decade at the famed Xerox PARC helping to design and engineer personal computers, computer code and object-oriented programing.  His passion for science and music makes him the ideal person to explain how computers can be created to make music, a theme that has remained a key area of study and pursuit for Alan during his long and successful career.

Brian Kehew played a big role in the NAMM Foundation’s  Museum of Making Music’s 2009-2010 Waves of Inspiration: The Legacy of Bob Moog exhibit, which provided the NAMM Resource Center a chance to interview him for this Oral History program. Brian discussed his personal background in music and the development of his personal interest and love for electronic music and synthesizers. Brian spoke of his friendship with Bob Moog and other leaders of the industry as well as his thoughts on milestone products during the heyday of MIDI and sound synthesis. His second NAMM interview was ca

Christoph Kemper blended his love of music with his love of computer programming as early as 1986 when he put his Commodore 64 to use coding for musical sounds. Kemper formed Access Music Electronics in the late 1990s just after rolling out its first product, the Access Virus series A. The Virus synthesizers offered a unique sound that soon became a part of the styles of such artists as Dr. Dre, Nine Inch Nails, Dido and Fatboy Slim. Christoph continued to design and develop the Virus series, which continues to attract musicians at all levels.  

Steven Kinchen dreamed of playing music ever since he was a small child.  When he had a chance to work in the music industry following his music degree in college, Steven jumped at the chance. Thanks to a professor’s recommendation, Steven visited with Dan Hall, the founder of Hall Piano Company in Metairie, Louisiana.  Mr. Hall offered him a job and the rest is history!  Among his first duties with the store when he arrived in early 1990 was to develop the synthesizer department.  From that experience, the store began a long and successful relationship with the Kurzweil Company. 

Gershon Kingsley composed several hit recordings using the Moog synthesizer in the very early days of electronic music. His mega hit “Popcorn” in 1969 led to a series of pioneering electronic recordings by Gershon, including “God is a Moog” and “Belly Buttons,” which featured a Fairlight synthesizer.